The Present
by Sun
Summary: Maggie gets an unexpected present for her birthday. Part of my Dance with the Devil series.


The Present

by Sun

* * *

"Doing anything special for Christmas, Miss Maggie?" Darien fell into step with the young woman. 

"Probably sharing a birthday cake with myself and watching the Garfield Christmas special. That's what I did last year." Maggie shifted the files she was carrying to her other arm and pushed open the door to the accounting office.

"Last year we went to the ball." He followed her as she gave the files to one of the clerks and left the office. "You can't spend your birthday alone."

Maggie shrugged and grinned. "I don't have anywhere to go, Dary."

"Come with me to my Aunt Celia's on Christmas." He offered.

She shook her head as she backed into a door to push it open. "I couldn't impose. You should spend Christmas with just your family." She handed off the rest of the files she was carrying and left the office.

Darien grabbed her hand to stop her. "Celia would love to meet you. And I want to spend my holidays with you."

Maggie chewed on her lip. "Well, Garfield starts at 8:00. I've got an ice cream cake, if you want anything else, bring it."

Darien grinned. "So should I tell Celia you're coming?"

"I'll think about it." She smiled and headed down to the lab.

* * *

The doorbell rang just as Maggie took the cake out of the freezer. She set the cake on the table and went to answer it. 

Darien stood on the other side, a bouquet of irises in one hand and a wrapped package in the other. "Happy Birthday, Maggie."

"Dary, thank you." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Come in, come in. I was just getting out the cake."

"These are for you. Flowers are from Hobbes. And this is from me." He handed her the gifts and shrugged out of his jacket.

"You're such a sweetie. Thank you." She went to find a vase for the flowers, carrying the package into the kitchen with her.

Darien hung his jacket on the coat rack by the door and looked around. Maggie had decorated the foyer with yards of evergreen garland and red bows. He peeked into the living room and saw her Christmas tree set up in one corner. It was covered in multicolored lights and lots of ornaments.

"There's one for every year I lived with Nick." Maggie came up behind him as he was looking at the tree. "It was our tradition. We'd go out every year and pick out one ornament with the year on it and then Nick would help me put it on the tree."

"Kev and I used to do something like that with Celia and Peter as well." He smiled but Maggie could see sadness in his eyes.

"Come get some cake. Garfield will be on in a couple minutes." She tugged on his hand as she went back to the kitchen.

He followed her into the kitchen. "What's that?" Darien asked when he saw her cake.

"Ice cream cake." Maggie looked at it. The cake was a plain white round cake with purple flowers on top.

"Where are the candles? You can't have a birthday cake without candles." He started rummaging through the drawers.

"It's just us. I thought candles seemed kinda silly." She shrugged.

"Aha!" Darien found a baggie of birthday candles and a pack of matches. "Not silly. Now go in the other room." He shooed her out of the kitchen.

Maggie left with a smile. A few minutes later Darien appeared in the doorway and waved her back into the kitchen.

He had dimmed the lights and lit a half a dozen candles on the top of the cake. Maggie smiled when she saw the cake. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Maggie, happy birthday to you." He sang softly as he steered her to the table. "Make a wish."

She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking of her wish. When she had one in mind, Maggie opened her eyes and blew out the candles. Darien clapped when she got them all out in one blow.

"Now can we have some cake?" she asked, looking back at him.

"Open your present first."

She sighed and picked up the thin package. "Cut the cake then." She gestured to the knife before tearing open the wrapping paper. The paper fell away and Maggie was left with a thin book. She turned it over and found there was no title. Shooting a puzzled glance at Darien, she opened it up. It was a photo album that Darien had filled with pictures of them, Claire and Hobbes. There were even a few photos of Eberts and the Official.

"Darien, thank you." Maggie smiled up at Darien. "It's great."

"It was actually Claire's idea. Eberts took a lot of the photos." He picked up the knife and cut two big pieces of the cake before putting the cake back in the freezer. "I'm glad you like it."

"I do." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and took her cake into the living room.

Picking up his plate, Darien followed Maggie into the living room. She turned on the television and they settled into to watch the Garfield Christmas special.

* * *

The doorbell rang and Maggie looked over at Darien. It was almost 10 P.M. and she couldn't imagine who would be at the door. 

Darien shrugged. "Don't look at me."

She pushed off the afghan covering them and went to the door. Standing on her toes, she peered out of the peephole. "There's no one there."

Darien came up behind her. He looked out and then motioned for her to step back. He quicksilvered and opened the door.

A box was sitting on Maggie's stoop. There were several holes around the top of the box. Darien gave the box a nudge with his foot and the box meowed. Glancing around, he reached down and picked up the box. He carried it inside and Maggie shut the door behind him.

"It meowed." He carried the box into the kitchen.

Maggie followed him. "It meowed?" She wasn't sure she heard him correctly. When he set the box down on the table, she peered inside. A pair of eyes flashed at her. She pulled the lid off the box and found a little black kitten sitting inside. There was also a small dish, some cans of food and couple of cat toys. "Oh, she's so sweet." Maggie reached in and scooped up the cat. There was an envelope in the box and Darien picked it up. "Here." She gave him the cat and took the envelope.

She ripped it open and unfolded the letter inside. She skimmed it before setting it on the table. "She is a he."

Darien picked up the letter. "Who's he from?"

"Alex." Maggie took the kitten and the box and headed into the living room. Darien followed her.

"Why'd he give you a kitten?" He was still carrying the letter. "What does he mean, 'since I can't share it with you, he can'?"

Maggie tugged on Darien's hand until he sat down next to her on the couch. "He said once he wished he could share this house with me. That it was too big for just one person. So he got me a cat."

Darien didn't say anything. His jaw twitched as he stared at the letter in his hands. After a few minutes, he exploded, tearing the letter in two, crumpling the halves and throwing them across the room.

Maggie jumped at the sudden movement. The kitten in her arms was startled awake and looked around for the threat before settling back into her arms.

"Sorry." Darien took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. "It's just," he trailed off. The kitten meowed and jumped out of Maggie's arms. He padded over to Darien and butted Darien's hand with his head. Darien shook his head and gave the kitten a scratch behind the ears. "What are you going to name him?"

She picked the kitten up and turned him around so she could look at his eyes. The kitten blinked his green eyes and tried to paw at her nose. "Mikhail, Misha for short."

"Hobbes is going to think you named him after Gorbachev."

Maggie turned and looked at Darien. "Who said I didn't?" She set the kitten down in the box and leaned over to Darien. "Have I told you how wonderful you are?"

Darien pouted, his arms crossed across his chest. "Not lately."

A smiled spread across her face. Maggie pushed at his chest until he was leaning back on the couch and straddled his lap. "You're wonderful." She tipped her head to one side and leaned forward to draw a long wet line across his neck with her tongue. "I don't know what I ever did without you," she whispered before she nibbled on his jawbone. Drawing back, she glanced at him with half closed eyes. "Feel more appreciated now?"

Darien fisted his hand in her hair and drew her mouth to his. "Infinitely," he whispered a moment before their lips met.


End file.
